Draco Dormiens
by Sinister Spiders
Summary: Nine years into their marriage Narcissa and Lucius Malfoy finally manage to conceive a child. This story follows their nine month journey as they discover and come to terms with the difficult pregnancy.
1. Incito Gravida

**Draco Dormiens**

**Chapter One:** Incito Gravida

_5__th__ of September, 1979_

* * *

_Even the bloody albino peacocks could breed!_

Lucius Malfoy swore under his breath as he downed his third shot of firewhisky in the last fifteen minutes. He watched angrily as the strikingly majestic peacock strutted just outside the window of the drawing room with several pure white peachicks trotting along behind him merrily.

Nine years. That is how long he had been married to Narcissa and that is how long they had been trying to conceive an heir. He should have known that they would run in to problems by the fact that Bellatrix and Rodolphus had remained childless. Nine years ago he had left Hogwarts with his future mapped out. He would marry Narcissa, have two – maybe three- children and continue the work of the Dark Lord. However, when three years passed and they failed to conceive they had confided their difficulties in Lucius' father.

When they told him Abraxas Malfoy had nodded curtly and told them to keep their problems to themselves. They were not to tell anyone of their troubles lest they risk tarnishing the Black or Malfoy name. One of Lucius's fathers main concerns had been how their private difficulties confirmed the arguments of the pro-muggle blood traitors who believed that keeping blood lines pure led to in-breeding and infertility.

Instead of acknowledging defeat Lucius and Narcissa had been forced to put on nonchalant faces and act as though they were not yet ready for children. That they were enjoying each other's company far too much to want a child to distract them from each other. The truth, however, was a completely different matter entirely. After nine long years of trying every natural and home-based remedy to combat infertility and even scheduling sex into their daily routines, their relationship had become as taut as a bowstring. Their relationship was strained and unaffectionate. Every touch, every kiss, every suggestive look was a prelude to yet another attempt to conceive a child. Another scrap of evidence that they had failed at one of their most basic human functions.

This is why Lucius Malfoy had resolved to take drastic action. Ignoring his father's advice he had decided to confide in someone who he could not only trust, but someone who could help. Someone who could provide him with the single most effective, yet difficult to attain, item that would truly aid their cause.

There was a sharp rapping on the door of the drawing room pulling Lucius from his angry tipsy musings.

"Enter." He drawled, pleased that his voice remained steady despite the pleasant tingling of intoxication that was spreading through his limbs. The door opened and he grimaced as Severus Snape entered the room.

"Good morning Lucius." Severus Snape said with a curt nod.

"Please, sit." Lucius motioned at a chair on the opposite side of his desk, Severus crossed the room in a flurry of black robes and sunk down into the chair gracefully. The younger man cast a disparaging look at the open bottle of firewhisky and the shot glass but knew better than to say anything.

"Lucius... what can I do for you today?" Severus asked; always the one to get straight down to business. With the alcohol robbing him of some of the inhibitions that would have caused him to embellish his story, Lucius decided to follow Snape's lead and state the facts.

"Narcissa and I are having trouble conceiving." Lucius said, slightly slurring the t in the word trouble although he wasn't sure whether that was due to nerves or the firewhisky.

"Yes…?" Severus said, willing him to continue. The matter-of-fact response rankled Lucius.

"Yes what?" Lucius snapped. Snape shifted in his seat and broke eye contact with him.

"Nine years of marriage and still childless?" Snape said, his silken voice barely above a whisper. "Only a fool would not have come to that conclusion." Lucius Malfoy's lips peeled back in an animalistic snarl and Severus shrugged dismissively. "But that is neither here nor there. Tell me Lucius, how do you think I can help you?" Snape asked. Lucius spared another moment to glare at the other man before he sat back in his chair.

"We want to try the Incito Gravida potion." Lucius told him. It was their last hope. They had tried every possible charm known to Wizard-kind that would help them conceive. The reason they had not yet tried Incito Gravida was because Lucius and Narcissa were both well-below par with their potions ability and lacked the contacts that were necessary to source some of the more obscure ingredients.

"Very well." Severus replied with a quick nod. "Are you aware of the side effects and risk factors?"

"Increased risk of miscarriage, possible fetal deformities, increased risk of severe post-partum haemorrhaging, possible complication with birth, so on and so forth. Yes. We are aware of the risk factors but we have no other avenues left to explore." Lucius waved his hand dismissively as though swatting away an annoying fly. When Severus just sat there in silence Lucius shifted awkwardly in his seat and continued to talk, eager to fill a silence that was thick with the knowledge of his failure as a man. "We were hoping to start a course of the potion immediately."

"I am afraid that is impossible." Severus said appraisingly "The potion takes forty days to brew, one day for each week of pregnancy. On top of that it will probably take me at least a week, maybe two, to source all of the ingredients." Lucius would have sworn had propriety not dictated to the contrary. He was pleased that he could feel the effects of the firewhisky lessening slightly- just enough to allow him to retain some amount of social graces. "In addition," Severus continued, his tone and slightly downcast eyes betraying that their conversation was about to change direction, "Narcissa will need to begin taking the potion on the first day of her menstrual cycle… I take it that you are tracking her cycles?"

"Of course." Lucius said distractedly. For that matter Narcissa had begun to bleed that very morning. Unfortunately for them that meant that it may be at least another two cycles before they could begin taking the potion. "Let us know when you have all of the ingredients and then when you complete the potion." Lucius said. Severus got to his feet and turned on his heel before walking to the door.

"And Severus?" Lucius called out just before Severus shut the door behind him. "I trust that you will talk to no one of this conversation save Narcissa?" He saw Severus's head bob up and down in compliance before the door slammed behind him.

With a loud sigh Lucius Malfoy pulled out his wand and transfigured the empty crystal shotglass into a schooner and filled it with the amber-colored firewhisky. Seeing how that unpleasant business was now dealt with he was pleased that he could drown his sorrows in uninterrupted silence and sink into a blessed oblivion in which he did not feel like a complete and utter failure.

* * *

A/N: This was written for the "Pondering Parenthood" Challenge on the HPFC forum. The challenge was issued by Eirinn Croi. This story will contain ten chapters in total.


	2. Experior Gravida

**Draco Dormiens**

* * *

**Chapter Two:** Experior Gravida

_4th __of October, 1979_

* * *

"Lucius… I want to test today." Narcissa said as she pushed some scrambled eggs around with her fork. Lucius rolled his eyes. He watched as his wife lifted her gaze and looked at him through long platinum lashes. Luckily for Lucius the fact that each of them were seated at the head positions at opposite ends of their banquet table meant that the distance significantly dulled the effects of her flirting.

"We agreed that we'd only ever test if you were at least a day late." He said delicately skewering a mushroom on the end of his fork. He had no desire to see the tip of her wand turn a dull yellow, signaling that they had failed to fall pregnant. Again.

"But you are leaving at lunch time and you won't be back for a week. If we don't test today then I may have to wait until this time next week if I am late." She said. It was clear from her tone that this was as close to begging as Narcissa ever came. Lucius picked up his linen napkin and wiped his mouth.

"Why must we go through this yet again, Narcissa?" He growled angrily "Every month we have a similar argument to this about when we will test only to discover the following day that we have failed- again- to conceive." He threw his napkin on the table and got to his feet. A loud scraping echoed through the cavernous dining room.

"Lucius please, calm yourself, I merely asked a question." Narcissa said, her tone now angry to mimic his own. He took a deep breath to steady his racing pulse and damper his temper.

"Look- you and I both know that we have no hope of conceiving on our own. We have tried and failed for nine years. Nine years Narcissa! I see no point in testing now only to be met by disappointment. Next month Severus should be finished with the Incito Gravida and then we may have hope. Until then I do not wish to go through this again." He watched as Narcissa threw her cutlery down and stood up, face flushed with anger.

"All I ask is for this one small thing Lucius. I want to test today- so what if it is negative? No harm done. Like you said we will have the potion soon. But now- I want to test before you go because I don't want to do it alone while you are gone." She said in a voice barely above a whisper. If she had been yelling Lucius would have turned and left the room immediately. But he had learnt not to ignore this tone of hers. He knew that yelling meant anger but that a whisper like this was a warning of something much more dangerous.

"No harm done, Narcissa?" He snapped, making her flinch "How many times have we gotten ahead of ourselves and tested only to be disappointed? How many days have you spent curled up in bed because of the results of the test? Is that really how you wish to spend our last few hours together?" His tone softened at the last sentence and he frowned at her. "I am going to check that the house elves packed everything correctly." He said and turned to leave.

"Yes." Her voice floated across the distance between them and stopped him in his tracks. "That is how I want to spend our last few hours together." His blood turned to ice as their cursed infertility drove yet another wedge between them. If it wasn't bad enough that their sex life had been completely devastated their ever elusive goal of having a child, he now knew that their entire relationship would never return to how it was nine years ago. He could no longer deny that Narcissa loved him above all else. He let out a bitter laugh as he realized that she valued the very idea of a child, the merest possibility of a baby, more than she valued him.

"Fine." He barked. He turned to face her as he took his wand out of his pocket. If she wanted to go through this again then she could; but she would be doing it alone. He pointed his wand at her "Experior Gravida."

Instead of the dull yellow glow they were accustomed to a myriad of brilliant gold sparks showered from the tip of his wand. In an instant the world dropped away and all he was aware of was how he could see the shock on Narcissa's face silhouetted through the bright lights. This was not at all what he had expected.

"I…" Narcissa began but beyond that her words fell short. Lucius blinked and the world swam back into focus around him. He looked over at his wife and she slowly, delicately, placed her hands on her flat abdomen. All of the anger that he had felt prior to casting that spell drained away and he stared at her beautiful platinum framed face. He had expected to be elated. He had imagined that he would pull his wife into a tight embrace. He had thought that she would be crying tears of joy and relief.

Instead they were staring at each other. Unsure of what to say or do. Their infertility had increasingly mediated all of their interactions for the majority of their relationship. And now, with the very real possibility that they may finally become parents , their world had been turned upside down. The tiny ball of life that was growing in his wife's womb- that tiny seedling of a child- somehow changed everything he knew about their relationship.


	3. Uncertainty

**Draco Dormiens**

**Chapter Three:** Uncertainty

_5t__h__ of November, 1979_

It was one month and one day since Lucius and Narcissa had discovered that they had at long last conceived a child. It was exactly three weeks since Narcissa had excused herself from lunch with a face greener that gillyweed and sprinted to the bathroom. Ever since that lunch she had fallen victim to a terrible case of morning sickness that seemed to not only happen at mornings, but at any time during the day. It made Lucius wonder why they called it morning sickness at all.

Lucius sat down at his desk in his drawing room and let out an exhausted sigh. They had finally gotten a chance to get in to Meridwell's Hospital for Women and Children to see a healer. Even though she hadn't expressly stated it, Lucius knew that Narcissa was anxious about the health of the child she carried. Between their longstanding infertility and her overwhelming all-day-sickness both she and Lucius had come to believe that this whole pregnancy may turn out to be a cruel joke. So, the previous night they had passed the wee hours of the morning away in a state of sleepless stupor playing Wizard's Chess. Something they hadn't done since they were at Hogwarts. Despite his tiredness Lucius had to admit that he had enjoyed the regression in their relationship. It had made him think back to times where their love had been fresh and untainted with no expectations or disappointments.

It was much to Lucius and Narcissa's relief that the healer had proclaimed that the pregnancy was progressing normally. She said that, judging by the tests she had done, there was no cause for concern as yet and that the morning sickness was completely normal and should reduce around twelve weeks. However, just as the healer announced that Narcissa was eight weeks pregnant she had also felt the need to tell them that the highest rate of miscarriage was in the first three months and that they should consider waiting until reaching that milestone before they told their family and friends. But of course, just passing that milestone did not guarantee that Narcissa would carry to full term.

Three months… Twelve weeks. Lucius and Narcissa had to wait another four weeks before they could share their news. For Lucius this was painful. To him this was just an extension of the constant uncertainty he had felt while trying to conceive a child. Even though the tiny little witch or wizard growing within his wife was there and was growing, it was possible that he still may not get a chance to meet it.

It was for that reason that Lucius and Narcissa did not speak of the baby. Lucius would ask how his wife was feeling, he would keep his eyes on her still flat abdomen- looking for the slightest hint of the miracle growing within, but they would not talk about the baby. They would not talk about the possibility of this being real.

Lucius poured himself a shot of firewhisky and held the crystal glass in his hand. He swirled the liquid around in the glass several times before getting to his feet and walking over to the window that looked out onto the gardens. He saw the albino peacock strutting around with it's little peachicks behind it and could not help but smile. Instead of the bitterness that had plagued him two months ago his stomach stirred with a reluctant sense of hope. With a small laugh he tossed the firewhisky out of the window onto the roses below and slammed the window shut.


	4. A Little Malfoy Snake

**Draco Dormiens**

* * *

**Chapter Four:** A Little Malfoy Snake

_24th __of December, 1979_

* * *

The three month milestone had passed and Narcissa and Lucius had decided to wait until their annual Christmas Eve ball to announce their news to their friends and family. However, knowing that Bellatrix was certain to feel slighted if she was not the very first to know, Narcissa had decided to pull her aside just before dinner and let her know earlier.

Lucius looked at Narcissa out of the corner of his eye and could tell that she was nervous. No one else would know, because she was excellent at hiding her emotions, but after so many years spent in her company he could see that her lips were slightly pursed and forehead creased in anticipation of telling her sister. They were standing in the Drawing Room of the manor with Bellatrix and Rodolphus while the party guests were being called into the Dining Hall for dinner. Lucius motioned for his brother and sister-in-law to be seated and stood behind NArcissa, placing a hand on the small of her back.

"Lucius and I have some news. And we wanted you to be the first to hear it." Narcissa said in a voice that sounded much more confident than Remus would have expected.

"Oh- do tell Cissy!" Bellatrix crooned with a lopsided smile "What is this wonderful news that Rod and I are so very privileged to hear before anyone else?" Her teasing tone made Lucius's blood boil, but he had been dealing with his eccentric sister-in-law for long enough to let it slide. "Are you and Lucius adopting a dragon? Did someone die and leave you more money and estates? Oh! Oh! I know; you are getting a divorce!" Narcissa sighed and threw her sister a caustic glare.

"No, actually, we are expecting a baby." Narcissa said. The atmosphere in the room changed in an instant. The cynical mood of Bellatrix's teasing disappeared completely and it was as if the temperature in the room dropped several degrees. The tension was palpable.

"A baby what?" Bellatrix snapped. Lucius's hands clenched into fists as his wife's mouth drop open in shock.

"Bella?" Narcissa whispered, unsure of what to make of the situation. "I am pregnant. Lucius and I are going to have a baby." At the word pregnant Bellatrix twitched and she clenched her teeth angrily. "What is wrong with you?"

"What do you mean what is wrong with me?" Bellatrix asked "You told me your news and you expected me to be, what, excited for you?" Bella turned to Rodolphus and motioned for him to stand, given the anger that was rolling off her in waves he was very quick to oblige.

"Well- yes…" Narcissa was clearly stumped. Lucius, however, was sad to say that he was not surprised. Both he and Narcissa were keenly aware of the silent struggle that Bellatrix and Rodolphus had gone through over the last decade. But unlike Narcissa, Lucius never tried to hide or excuse Bellatrix's behaviour as anything other than selfish and sadistic. "I thought you would be happy for us."

Without another word Bellatrix got to her feet and left the room, with Rodolphus in tow, and slammed the door shut after her. He saw Narcissa deflate as she realised that the conversation did not go how she planned. She looked over him and shrugged giving him a weak smile as if to say that it could have been worse. Lucius gave her a curt nod, but was not so sure that this was over.

* * *

Fifteen minutes later the chatter at the long dining table died down as Lucius Malfoy got to his feet and cleared his throat. It took about a minute for the last of the conversations to drop off, but when he had everyone's attention he gave them all a charming smile.

"Welcome, everyone, to my family home. As usually it is lovely to have you all here again for our annual Christmas Eve Ball. Before we start dinner Narcissa and I would like to share some wonderful news with you all." He motioned to his gorgeous wife, glowing in a silk green, figure-hugging dress, and waited a moment for dramatic effect before continuing. "Narcissa and I-"

"WAIT! WAIT!" Bellatrix jumped out of her seat and her chair scraped against the wooden floor boards with a loud screech before losing balance and falling to the ground behind her with a crash. Lucius shot her an angry glare to let her know that he would not tolerate her interruption.

"Bellatrix!" He growled warningly, but the woman just waved her hand at him dismissively before continuing.

"It looks as though Lucius and Cissy are expecting a baby! A little Malfoy snake to shit gold and continue the good name of one of our oldest and most depraved pureblood families!" The room was filled with a silence so thick that it could be cut with a knife. The dinner guests looked between Bellatrix and Lucius nervously, not quite knowing what to say. Before Lucius's anger abated enough for him to gather a coherent retort the silence was broken by the scraping of another chair as Narcissa stood and fled from the room.

"Excuse me." He said with a piercing glare aimed at Bellatrix before making to follow his wife.

"Where in the name of Merlin is this food?" He heard Belatrix's high pitch cackle just before the door to the dining room slammed shut behind him.

After all these years this was how the news of their long-awaited heir was announced to the world.

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**A/N:**Please read and review


	5. Turn of the Decade

**Draco Dormiens**

**Chapter Five:** Turn of the Decade

_1__st__ of January, 1980_

* * *

Five minutes past midnight on the first day of the new year. The year that his child would be born. Truth be told it hadn't gotten off to as good a start as Lucius wanted. After Bellatrix stole their moment in the spotlight and turned it into a scandal with her relentless selfishness he had spent the rest of the time between Christmas and New Year placating Narcissa and sorting through various congratulatory salutations that was delivered by an entire parliament of owls.

It was a combination of Narcissa's mourning for the loss of her first, and long awaited, chance to announce their pregnancy to the world, and her unshakable all-day-sickness, that had them caged in the manor for New Years and away from their usual festivities. Narcissa had retired to bed well before the turn of the decade, and Lucius was left all alone to nurse a flute of champagne.

As usual nothing felt different. Lucius snorted as he once again mused about the uselessness of the New Years celebrations. Sure, it is the start of a new year as far as the calendar was concerned, but it was still the same world, just five minutes later. He had also found that it was useless to hope that things would change with the turnover. He and Narcissa had spent numerous years thinking that the one that followed would be the one where they were finally graced with a child. It had gotten to the point where, in 1978, they had forgone their usual intimate discussion of their hopes and dreams for the year to come and made do with exchanging grim smiles; knowing that neither of them wanted to continue to inflate their deepest desires only to have them ravaged by fate.

Now, as Lucius sat in the velvet love seat before the roaring fire in their parlour, he could not help but wonder at what the next year would hold for them. At only four months pregnant he was well aware that there could still be complications with the child. He knew that, until he held their child in his arms, he could not count on ever meeting it. And even then there was nothing to guarantee that the child would flourish into an adult. However, he found himself considering whether he and Narcissa would be having a son or a daughter. Whether it would have Narcissa's platinum blonde shade or Lucius's white blonde was somewhat of a puzzle to him. But more importantly he was wondering what sort of character the child would have.

Lucius sincerely hoped that the undesirable tendency to be somewhat eccentric would not pass down from the Black family line into his child. The Malfoys were one of the oldest and most respected pureblood families in the whole of Eurpoe and the United Kingdom and he would be devastated if the Black Family Madness mixed with his own line. All one had to do was look at Bellatrix, Walburga or Alphard to see that there was something not quite right with the Black family. Even beautiful Andromeda had run off to marry some mudblood fool.

However, not all of the Black line were tainted by the bad blood. Lucius smiled as he thought of his pregnant wife sleeping peacefully in their marriage bed. In Narcissa he had found the perfect wife. She was intelligent and confident, yet she never undermined him… In public anyway. When they were out she was the very semblance of the perfect wife, and then when they were in private she was more than willing to discuss every aspect of their life with him in calculated detail. Despite the tension in their relationship that had been borne from years of bitter disappointments in their failure to produce a child he still loved his wife. But most of all he admired her. He admired her strength, her determination, her intelligence, but most of all he admired her monumental amount of courage.

The fire crackled and Lucius drained the last drop of his champagne. He put the empty glass on the table beside him and it vanished immediately. With a sigh he got to his feet and habitually straightened non-existent creases out of his trousers. As he made his way up to bed he wondered whether his child would be like Narcissa. He certainly hoped so.


	6. Still Sick

**Draco Dormiens**

* * *

**Chapter Six: **Still Sick

_13__th__ of February, 1980_

* * *

Every muscle in Lucius Malfoy's body was tense, his jaw clenched tightly, as he listened to the sound of Narcissa's retching through the bathroom door. He could feel a headache coming on from his constant jaw clenching ,the pain clawed at his brain as it crept upwards through his skull, but he could not relax.

Five months.

Five blooming months and Narcissa was still not over her all-day-sickness. Her running to the bathroom with her hand clamped over her mouth had become somewhat of a three-hourly ritual. Her skin was even paler than usual and while she had actually lost a bit of weight in the first three months of her pregnancy, she still wasn't gaining anything to make up for it. Her abdomen had rounded out into a firm bump but she looked skeletal, gaunt, and did not have any of the radiance that people always claimed came with pregnancy.

"Narcissa!" Lucius barked, his fist pounded on the door. She retched again. "Narcissa!" He heard the toilet flushed and took a deep breath before entering the marble-fitted bathroom. He watched as she rinsed her mouth out and washed her face. He waited until she was standing upright and reaching for a hand towel before he spoke again.

"We're going to the healer." He said, she sighed wearily and put a hand on her abdomen.

"We went three days ago Lucius, she said that – for some people- this is normal. We just have to wait it out." Narcissa said softly.

"Well then that healer should be fired. I will not allow you to suffer any longer- this is ridiculous." He said haughtily and she laughed, he glared at her.

"You think I'm enjoying this?" She hissed angrily. "I hate it! To think that after all of these years trying to conceive a child that I am further cursed with this sickness! It is an insult!" she cried flinging her arms in the air.

Lucius's breath caught in his throat, surprised by Narcissa's sudden outburst. She was normally very controlled and refined and this show of temper was something he had never seen in her before.

"Narcissa…" His voice was softer this time; more sympathetic.

"And do you want to know the worst thing, Lucius?" She snapped "Ever since the first moment we found out about this baby everything has turned out wrong. We were arguing when we discovered I was pregnant, Bellatrix had to go and upstage us with her selfish theatrics, and with this accursed sickness I feel like death warmed up!" She stopped her rant and took a few deep breaths, chest heaving heavily, her face uncharacteristically flushed red with anger. "Maybe _this_ wasn't such a good idea." She whispered, more to herself than Lucius, as her hands came down to rest on her stomach. Lucius crossed the floor in three fluid strides and wrapped his arms around her.

"Never say that Narcissa. Ever." He whispered fiercely. "This baby was conceived against all odds and you have carried it for five months. You can do this. We can do this." He pulled his wife into his arms and pressed his lips against her silken hair.

With their bodies pressed together firmly Lucius felt a rolling sensation against his stomach as their child moved between them and he knew beyond all doubt that his words were true.


	7. Placental Abruption

**Draco Dormiens**

* * *

**Chapter Seven: **Placental Abruption

_23rd__ of March, 1980_

* * *

Lucius watched as Narcissa lifted her stained fingers to her face and turned them slowly, observing the sticky scarlet coating on them. Blood. They both stood there completely transfixed by the contrast of the bright red liquid with her pale dehydrated skin. Slowly, she looked up at him, face painted with an anxiety so strong that it made his heart ache in sympathy.

"Lucius." She whispered, her eyes fluttering shut. As though swimming in molasses, Narcissa's legs crumpled slowly from beneath her and her body arched gracefully as it fell towards the ground.

* * *

"What happened?" The nurse barked as she directed Narcissa's floating trolley through the double doors and down the cold, sterile, hallway of St. Mungo's Emergency Department.

"We were eating our breakfast and she stood to go to the bathroom." Lucius said, looking between the pale face of his wife, and that of the tanned nurse whose face was screwed up in concentration. "Then she stopped suddenly. She turned around and touched the seat she was sitting on and…" Lucius trailed off as they burst through a set of doors on the left side of the corridor.

"How many months is she?" The nurse asked, directing the gurney into a corner before taking Narcissa's wrist to check her pulse.

"Six." Lucius replied, looking at his wife with concern. It went against everything he knew, to see such a strong and determined woman lying unconscious on a hospital bed.

"And her history?" She asked.

"History?" Lucius echoed.

"Yes!" The nurse said exasperatedly as though he were stupid "Any complications in the pregnancy? Medical history?... What did you think I wanted to know about -the Goblin Revolution?" The nurse whipped out her wand and turned her complete attention to Narcissa now, muttering an incantation and she moved her wand over his wife's body.

"First pregnancy." He retorted with a snarl "History of fertility issues. Other than that she is in perfect health. Apart from perpetual morning sickness the pregnancy has been normal… So far." Had this been any normal situation he would have given the nurse a severe dressing down for her impudence, but with this woman being the one who was caring for his wife and unborn child he thought it better not to risk it.

* * *

"We think it is Partial placental abruption." The healer said. Lucius and Narcissa shared concerned glances.

"You _think_?" Lucius hissed derisively, angry that- after eight hours of waiting- they couldn't come up with a proper diagnosis. Narcissa put her hand on his lap and he wiped the snarl from his face.

"Yes. It can't be officially diagnosed until after birth, but that would explain the bleeding and the other symptoms. A placental abruption is when the placenta has separated from the uterine lining too early." The healer explained patiently, ignoring Lucius's scathing tone.

"And what does that mean for the baby?" Narcissa asked, voice barely above a whisper, as her hand tensed on Lucius's leg.

"And what does that mean for Narcissa?" Lucius asked looking at his wife. Even as run down as she was she was still beautiful. He couldn't bare to think that this pregnancy would take more than just her energy away from her.

"It really just depends." The healer said slowly "As you are only five months the fetus still needs more time to develop. If the rupture were to become any more severe it could be life-threatening for the baby. It would be born sooner than it should and chances are that, even with our best healers on the case, it may have less than a forty percent chance of survival." The healer paused for a few moments to let Narcissa and Lucius absorb the information.

"Less than forty percent?" Narcissa asked softly.

"If it were to get any worse at this moment. However, the longer you manage to hold on to your child, the higher the chances of survival will be. Our re-"

"What can I do?" Narcissa interrupted, her voice suddenly fierce and her hands flying to her rounded stomach. Her entire demeanour changing from run-down woman to protective lioness in an instant.

"Bed rest. And lots of it. I caution you away from any form of strenuous activity." The healer replied "If you are able to it would be best if you stayed in the hospital, so you don't have to apparate again. Apparition could possibly make the situation worse." As the healer spoke Narcissa nodded rapidly in compliance. Lucius could see in her eyes that she would do anything for this child.

"I can go and get a nurse to bring you the admissions paperwork if you like?" The healer asked, when Narcissa voiced her permission he left the room.

Lucius turned to speak to his wife, but before he managed to get a word out the Dark Mark emblazoned on his left forearm, hidden under his black linen sleeve, erupted to life and filled his entire body with a blazing pain so strong it threatened to engulf him. Lord Voldemort was clearly deeply unhappy about something. He jumped to his feet automatically and prepared to apparate, but Narcissa's cold fingers clamped around his arm, anchoring him to the sterile hospital room.

"Lucius- don't." She said struggling to speak through the pain she felt in her own arm coupled with her exhaustion.

"Narcissa we have to. Don't you feel how angry he is?" Lucius said impatiently, wanting to get to the Dark Lord's side right away to make the pain stop.

"You heard the healer," Narcissa said angrily "I can't apparate." Lucius looked down at her and pulled his arm out of her grip.

"Well you have to." He said, his tone cold and biting.

"Lucius!" She cried, outraged that he was willing to risk their child to attend to their Master.

"Come. Don't come. It is up to you. I will cover for you as best I can." Lucius said.

"Please Lucius! I need y-" Lucius turned on his heel, and with a loud crack the distance between he and his wife and child suddenly got much larger.


	8. Mother Dragon

**Draco Dormiens**

* * *

**Chapter Eight: **Mother Dragon

_12th of April, 1980_

* * *

The Dark Lord had been displeased that Narcissa had ignored his summons and had admonished Lucius severely. However Narcissa's punishment was far worse than anything that Lord Voldemort could deliver.

Nothing.

Not a single word.

Not even a single gesture.

Narcissa had completely ignored Lucius from the moment that he had disapparated from her side at the hospital. Lucius had tried to explain. He had tried to justify his actions. But his words just fell on deaf ears. After a week of being monitored in hospital Lucius had felt that Narcissa was deserving of far more privacy and respect than she was being afforded at the hospital and had hired two private midwives to live in their house and watch over her so that she might wait out the rest of her pregnancy in comfort.

This thoughtful and insightful act of kindness, the likes of which Lucius was not overly prone to, had gone without acknowledgement or appreciation. As soon as Narcissa had returned to the house she had asked one of their house elves to prepare their most opulent guest room, in the wing as far from Narcissa and Lucius's room, for her to reside in.

This is why, at nine in the morning, Lucius was sitting in his study nursing a bottle of Ogden's Old Firewhisky. He shouldn't have surprised that he had already failed his first task as a father. To support his wife and child in times of need is something that should have come naturally. He should have ignored the summons of his Master. But, when faced with the pain in his arm and the promise of something much worse if he did not heed the call, he had caved and left his wife alone to suffer her infirmity. If it weren't for the potent alcohol coursing through his system Lucius knew that he would not be reflecting on this manner so. It was normally well beyond his personal propriety to dwell on such insubstantial issues. However, in his drunken state there were a great number of factors calling for his attention, so many thoughts to attend to before he sobered up and stopped his foolish musings.

Pondering regrets and possibilities was dangerous. It was something that distracted one from their true goal and diverted their attention to events that never existed or couldn't be changed. This was something that he would normally steer well clear of.

Lucius poured himself another shot of whisky, not yet drunk enough to forgo the use of his fine crystal shot glass, and snorted to himself in amusement as some of the liqueur splashed onto the well-polished mahogany surface of his desk.

If it weren't for Narcissa's cold treatment of him he would not be in this situation in the first place. Being deprived of her warm presence in his bed, mourning the loss of the sound of her voice, and the wisdom of her words, he had been forced to live in a cold, distant state. Of course the firewhisky was warming his body well enough but it did not seem to thaw the icy hand that clutched his heart.

"Bloody Merlin!" Lucius slurred, surprised by the overly sappy and poetic nature of his cognitions when subject to alcohol.

This would not do.

Decisively, Lucius dropped the bottle of Ogden's he was holding (he had meant to place it on the table but the mahogany desk had moved at the very last moment) and got to his feet as the thick glass bottle smashed on the wooden floorboards and painted the lower half of the room and his trousers with firewhisky. If he had been sober he would have been devastated that his expensive Egyptian cotton pants had been sullied but in his current state it was the last thing on his mind. In fact, as he stood, the alcohol he had consumed over the past hour went straight to his brain- making the room swirl around him in a very disconcerting manner.

Trying to walk as straight as possible he made his way up to Narcissa's new room. Across the hall and up several sets of stairs that he was dreading walking back down while intoxicated. The whole experience was quite surreal for him for two reasons; one - his senses were so blurred by the alcohol, and two- he would never, when sober, go crawling to Narcissa.

Not that he was crawling. Just stumbling. And to Lucius Malfoy there was a significant difference between the two.

He didn't bother knocking. It was his house and he would not act like a timid guest bound by rules of etiquette. The swung open and slammed against some object on the inside off the room, eliciting a gasp from his bedridden wife. She looked slightly better than she had three weeks ago when she had fainted, but was still gaunt and pallid. Her faded lips were opened in a perfect 'O' of shock as she took in his disheveled appearance.

"Narcissa!" Lucius said slurred, the anger in his voice dulled by the alcohol. She put down the book that she was reading and looked at him from within her nest of silver blankets. "This can't go on." He said, but instead of responding she simply raised one of her perfectly sculpted eyebrows.

Lucius took three steps into the room and stumbled slightly over the edge of the Persian rug and into the edge of a blanket box, earning himself a disapproving look from Narcissa. He knew that accident would hurt him tomorrow.

"You have not talked to me for three entire weeks Narcissa. You are my wife, and you are carrying my child, and this just will not do!" Lucius said and stood as still as he possibly could to avoid making any more embarrassing stumbles.

"It will not do, will it, Lucius?" Narcissa asked haughtily, a smile tugging at the corner of her lips. Lucius felt his face redden at the derisive tone of her comment. "What will do then Lucius? What suits your needs?"

Lucius swore under his breath. While he was quite determined to come up here and get Narcissa to talk to him he had thought of nothing further than making it to her door. He had thought that if he made it this far he would be able to play it by ear but her question stumped him. While her tone was mocking her query was genuine, valid. What did he want?  
"Well…" He begun and then coughed to stall for time "I want you to talk to me, for one."

"And we are doing that now, are we not?" Narcissa crooned, Lucius slammed his fist against the blanket box and Narcissa jumped, the sudden boom jolting her in the quietness of the room.

"Damn it Narcissa! Do NOT patronize me!" He growled. Lucius blinked furiously and tried to center all of his energies on trying to find something more effective to say. "I want to talk. I want to know why you were ignoring me."

"You know perfectly well why." Narcissa hissed in response, eyes narrowing and hands balling into fists around her blanket.

"I did what I had to do." Lucius said indignantly. "You know what the Dark Lord required when we joined him. You know you had to devote your life, your soul, to his purpose. You got the mark on your arm with the knowledge that from then on you were his." Lucius said.

"I'll tell you what I know Lucius." Narcissa said. She threw the blankets off her legs and slowly, carefully, slid her feet off the edge of the bed. Using one hand on the mattress to support her stood. Her pregnant stomach rounded out in front of her, the smoothness of its curves drawing attention to its importance, unconsciously she brought a hand up to caress her stomach as though the babe within her could feel her tenderness. "We tried for nearly ten years Lucius. Ten years to have this child. We sacrificed friends, family, time and even our relationship to conceive this child. The years were filled with bitter disappointment and heartache so raw that I didn't think I could handle it anymore." She looked at him with tears gleaming in her eyes, something that was so rare that it made Lucius's own eyes start to water.

"But you are pregnant now." Lucius said simply.

"Yes, I am." Narcissa said with a curt nod "And therefore my pledges to the Dark Lord will now come second to those I took to you and our child."

"But Narcissa-"

"But what Lucius? Hmmm? Who do you think will take care of this child if something happens to us in the line of duty? Bellatrix? Your Father? The Dark Lord himself? Ha! Do you think it would disturb Him at all if our child was left as an orphan?"

"But we made an oath- we swore ourselves to His service!" Lucius argued, shocked that his wife was talking about their Master in such a fashion.

"So we could do something real Lucius! So we could change the order of the world back to how it is supposed to be! But what are we doing now? We meet in abandoned buildings and dark woods. We torture muggles and intimidate mudbloods. We stand in a circle wearing hoods and masks, cowering and catering to His every whim. Where _is_ this new world order Lucius?"

"Narcissa!" Lucius's knees went weak and he had to lean forward and hold on to the blanket box to support himself. He had never once thought that his wife would talk like this. It was treasonous. If the Dark Lord could hear it he would have no hesitations killing her. He would have no hesitations killing Lucius for not ending his own wife's shame.

"What we are doing is important Narcissa! Before every feast there must be a famine." His head swam uncomfortably and he struggled to maintain his balance.

"Rubbish Lucius and you know it! We have done nothing but incite fear in the Mudbloods and Half Breeds through petty scare tactics. Where is this great sense of moral order that the Dark Lord inspired in us fifteen years ago? What happened to the new world order that would see those of Pure heritage reclaiming their rightful place?" Narcissa squared her shoulders and took a step towards him, her hand still protectively on her stomach. "We have tried, and failed, for fifteen years to use the Dark Lord's methods to instill justice- to no avail! Does that tell you nothing Lucius? We are fighting a losing battle!"

"Narcissa stop! This is insanity!" Lucius ordered, but he could see from the passion in her blue eyes that she was beyond the point of reason.

"No Lucius! You stop! Open your eyes ! You have to see how desperate this has gotten. The Dark Lord is now hunting down a child. Somehow he heard tell that a child- a mere baby- would be the one that destroys him. A child born at the end of July. Do you know what that means? It means that this child will four weeks older than our own child when he takes its life!" Narcissa now cradled both arms around her stomach. "A baby, Lucius! This is what is has come to. Is this what our cause has amounted to? Killing innocent babies because of the words of some ill-begotten seer? This, Lucius, is not what I signed up for!"

After her impassioned speech the room turned cold, the air thick, as they both stood breathing heavily. Lucius's inebriated mind struggling to follow her words. However treacherously she had spoken, and despite the fact that he was completely satisfied with the Dark Lord's progress, he could not help but think of that child. The one that would be killed. The one that would be barely a month younger than his own child.

Lucius turned to face his wife and raised his eyes slowly. As his gaze rose his breath became more ragged until his eyes settled on the bulge of his wife's stomach. Carefully, he made his way around the edge of the bed and placed both of his hands gently on her abdomen. Her stomach was warm through her night dress and he could feel a small, hard, roundness where his child was pressing against her skin- struggling for room in it's tight confines.

"What if it were our child Lucius? What if it were our child that the prophecy spoke of? Could you sacrifice our very own baby for the cause? How would you live with yourself afterwards?"

It was all too much. Lucius collapsed wearily on the bed beside him and let the effects of the firewhisky remove all traces of consciousness from his mind and lull him into a pleasantly thoughtless sleep.

* * *

The next morning Lucius woke up in Narcissa's bed, with his wife curled around him, her stomach pressed firmly against his back. Carefully, he turned in her embrace, rested his head on her pillow and observed the chiselled lines of her beautiful face. The movement sent a dull throbbing pain through his head but he tried to ignore it. Her eyelids fluttered open and silver eyes met glacial blue.

"I've heard tell that a good mother is like a lioness; fierce and protective." Lucius said, voice husky with sleep.

His mother had told him that every time she told the story of how he had nearly drowned at the age of two. He had been slipping and sliding on the iced over pond behind the manor when the ice cracked and he fell into the freezing cold water. Instinctively she had run over and jumped in after him. It used to make him laugh, that she had forgotten she was a witch, and jumped in the water instead of using magic. But now, after hearing his wife speak, he thought he had begun to understand.

"But you Narcissa?" he continued "You are strong and fiery. Irreverent yet, in your wisdom, justified in being so. You are dangerous. You, Narcissa, are a dragon." He whispered the words, his breath caressing the loose tendrils of hair that had fallen from her braid in her sleep, making them flutter against her pale skin. She closed her eyes and her lips formed a small, satisfied smile.

"Draco." She murmured sleepily, letting out a sigh of satisfaction. "I like it."

* * *

**A/N:** I want to say a quick thanks to everyone for the reviews, alerts, and favourites- you are all making this really worthwhile. This is something that I thought I could never write, but for some reason, the words seem to come to me of their own accord. Writing about the Malfoys has, thus far, been more enjoyable than I had imagined. Now there are only two more chapters to go, so not much longer!


	9. Twice Defied

**Draco Dormiens**

* * *

**Chapter Nine: **Twice Defied

* * *

_23__rd__ of May, 1980_

"And Narcissa?" The hissing slithered through his mind sinisterly and raised the fine hairs on the back of his neck.

"Yes My Lord?" Lucius responded, bowing low. Lucius was standing in his spot in the incomplete circle of Death Eaters. The void beside him was where his wife should be. The gap in the fence of bodies surrounding the Dark Lord more like a gaping wound- no one wanted to look at it, yet they could not tear their gaze away.

"Where is your beautiful wife, Lucius?" Every muscle in his stomach was clenched in apprehension. His breath came quicker and his blood ran cold.

"At home resting, My Lord." Lucius replied with another respectful inclination of his head.

"Resting?" Curiosity and outrage expressed in one loaded word.

"Yes My Lord, the healers have said that her placenta had most likely become detached and if she is not careful we could lose the child." The Dark Lord's eyes burned with rage.

"Not careful?" Voldemort hissed condescendingly "Tell me Lucius- what do you fear more? The wrath of a child not yet born or the wrath of your true master?"

_I would ask you the same thing_. Lucius thought bravely as his heart hammered against his rib cage. He bowed his head and took a slow, deep breath.

"No disrespect intended my lord. Please forgive us for our insolence."

"Get out of my sight." Lord Voldemort said with a wave of his hands. Lucius was all too happy to comply. But- before he could reach the apparition point he heard his Master telling him to stop. His feet ground to a reluctant halt and he turned to face his Lord.

"My Lord?" Lucius asked, already tired of the charade, worn down by playing a role he was no longer committed to.

"Tell me Lucius, how many times has Narcissa betrayed me?" Voldemort asked, words laced with a poison Lucius could detect but not identify.

"My Lord!" For the first time since the Death Eaters gathered a voice other than Voldemort or Lucius's broke into the silence. Lucius watched, thoroughly confused, as Severus Snape stepped forward from his spot in the circle.

"What, Severus?" Voldemort shot distractedly, his penetrating eyes piercing the very fabric of Lucius's soul. Trying to discover something that only he would be able to see.

"You can't possibly mean…" Severus begun, trailing off, making Lucius wonder just what Lord Voldemort did mean.

"You said it yourself Severus. Often our greatest enemies are those who work from within." The Dark Lord turned his attention to the younger man now. Lucius watched as Severus bowed low.

"But the child my Lord! The child due in the beginning of June!" Lucius was stunned. He had never heard anything but calm and logic in the voice of Severus Snape. But this was something different. Distinctively so. Did he detect a hint of panic in the tone of the sullen man?

"Is this true?" This question was directed to Lucius.

"Yes my Lord." Lucius responded, thoughts momentarily straying to the knowledge that his child would soon be in this world. Despite the tension in the air he felt a warmth spreading in his chest that he had only previously associated with his affection for Narcissa. He was dismissed once more by the Dark Lord and, distracted by this novel feeling, turned and left the clearing- all thoughts of the odd encounter overshadowed by the curious sensations that accompanied the knowledge that he would soon be a father.

* * *

A knock on the drawing room door distracted Lucius from his work. He was organizing the family finances, trying to get things in order before his child arrived. He had just filed away the most recent statement from the private healers as he was interrupted.

"Enter." He said, a smile spreading across his face at the thought of Narcissa walking through the door, pregnant stomach rounded out before her, slippered shoes padding heavily on the floorboards.

However, the pale drawn face and greasy black hair that was revealed as the door swung open made his eyebrows furrow in confusion.

"Severus?"

"Lucius." Severus Snape responded. He crossed the floor and sat down in the seat on the opposite side of the desk without invitation. It if were anyone other than Severus or Narcissa that dared take that liberty Lucius would have been outraged. But his unexplainable fondness for Severus allowed him to forgive the man several things, including his previous obsession with the mudblood wretch, Evans.

"And how are you this afternoon?" Lucius asked cordially, he clicked his fingers and a glad of wine materialized and settled onto the desk in front of Severus.

"No, thank you." Severus said pushing the crystal flute away from himself. "I can't stay long. I have just come to warn you."

"Warn me?" Lucius scoffed, the look of seriousness in Severus's eyes made him stop mid-laugh and grit his teeth. He had never seen Severus look so affected before. There were new lines on his face that hadn't been there nine months ago when Lucius had called him in for a favor.

"Yes Lucius... I just want to tell you to tread very carefully where Lord Voldemort is concerned. Narcissa has defied him twice this far. Make sure she does not do so again, will you?" Severus said. He abruptly got to his feet, feet of his chair scraping angrily on the highly-polished wooden floor. "Oh, and Lucius?" Lucius nodded absent-mindedly as he tried to puzzle out the meaning of Severus's words.

"Hmm?"

"I never got a chance to say congratulations... on the pregnancy."

Before Lucius could speak again the man had swept from the room leaving Lucius with a strange sense of apprehension. Despite the cryptic nature of Severus's visit, Lucius could feel the unfamiliar weight of anxiety twisting deep in his gut.

_None of it matters_, Lucius thought to himself. In less than a month his child would arrive and he and Narcissa would no longer need to play this precarious game of Russian roulette.

* * *

**A/N:** Thanks to everyone for their lovely reviews. This is the second to last chapter of this story. The next one hopefully shouldn't be too much longer. I am just waiting for inspiration to strike.

Thanks also to the people who have added this story or my pen name to your favourites or alerts list. Please feel free to leave me a review to let me know what you think about the story- you can even favourite and review in one go!


	10. Welcome to the World

**Draco Dormiens**

* * *

**Chapter Ten: **Welcome to the World

_5__th__ of June, 1980_

* * *

Lucius was tired. More tired than he had ever been before. His head was pounding, all the lights in the room were glaring into his eyes and transforming into blinding pain. His jaw was sore and each one of his teeth ached from the constant clenching. He had thought that holding his son in his arms would make the tension drain right out of him. But now, while holding the squalling child in his stiff embrace, he knew how wrong he was.

It started three days ago. Narcissa had felt her first contraction and their hired healer had started to prepare one of the many guest rooms as a birthing chamber. Three days ago.

Since that first contraction neither he nor Narcissa had slept. The contractions faded in and out, regular and close together for a few hours, and then so far apart they didn't bother timing. After a few hours of near inaction they would come again, wave after wave, in quick and painful succession; only to slow down again an hour or two later. The healer had decided that they needed to move things along. This meant that they had to be moved to the hospital- not only was it stressful for Narcissa, but the baby as well.

Twenty-four hours after arriving at the hospital their child was finally pulled into the world. An extremely healthy baby boy, seven pounds eleven and just over eighteen inches. He had a set of lungs that would put a banshee to shame. His skin was pink as though it had been pinched all over. His eyes were a startling and somewhat alarming ice blue that seemed to take in everything around him.

They had placed the boy on Narcissa's bare breasts once they had checked him over and taken his measurements. Instead of wrapping her exhausted arms around her newborn she had begun to shiver. Only a little bit at first, but over the next minute the shivering progressed to a point where her teeth were chattering and a healer raced over to take the child from her, in fear for his safety.

"So… Col-d" Narcissa had said through chattering teeth. The healers looked at each other, and then at Narcissa again before all hell broke loose. Shouts and yells echoed through the corridors, words like "haemmorage" and "class four" and "transfusion" were thrown about before Lucius was dragged from his chair, pushed outside the room, and told to wait there. A few moments later a healer had opened the door, shoved a bundle of screeching blankets in his arms, and told to comfort his son.

Lucius managed to catch a glimpse of the scene in the birthing room before the door was slammed shut again. Blood. A lot of blood.

Twenty minutes later a healer brought him a bottle for the child. When he asked her what had happened to his wife the impudent woman had shrugged and walked away. An hour and a half after the baby had finished the bottle three healers made their way over and sat on the sterile leather couch opposite him.

"We are afraid we have some bad news." The first healer said, a man in his mid forties with graying hair and a too-kind smile. The other two healers looked grave. Lucius's entire body turned to ice and he held his breath. "Your wife had what was known as a severe postpartum hemorrhage. She lost nearly two and a half liters of blood. We had to perform a hysterectomy as her uterus as it failed to contract after the birth of your son. We have given her two blood transfusions and several blood replenishing potions… She seems to be stable at the moment, but we are not sure if she will pull through."

For the first time in his life Lucius Malfoy found himself unable to come up with a response. He opened and shut his mouth a number of times, looking between the healers for some small mercy, for one of them to say that this was all a joke and that his wife was well and waiting to be reunited with her husband and son.

* * *

It wasn't until three days later that Narcissa regained consciousness for a decent length of time. In the days that had passed Lucius had been spending every waking hour at the hospital watching his son. Just watching. Wondering what it was about this baby that meant that so much destruction need accompany his introduction to the world.

They had spent ten years trying to conceive this child.

Narcissa had spent nine months in constant discomfort while he grew in her womb.

His wife had been in labour for seventy two hours of agony to birth him.

It wasn't supposed to be like this. Their long wait should have been punishment enough. But for some reason their child saw fit to make them pay for tearing him from where ever he had been waiting and bringing him into their world.

Their son had come into the world and brought with him so much more pain suffering than either Lucius and Narcissa had thought possible.

But when his son looked up with him sparkling blue eyes he could not help but be in awe of the baby's beauty and perfection.

Narcissa's eyes fluttered open and Lucius sat up straighter in his chair, stiff back hurting in protest at the sudden change in position.

"Where is he?" She managed to croak painfully, her voice sounding dryer than a windswept desert. Lucius stood and walked over to his son. With a heavy sigh he leant over and scooped the dense warm bundle into his harms arms.

The corners of Narcissa's lips turned up in what could only be described as the most picturesque smile in the world. Lucius's heart fluttered at the look that his wife gave their son, amazed that so much love could be contained in one look.

Despite all of the waiting.

Despite all of the pain.

"Draco." Narcissa crooned, as she carefully traced her fingers around their son's porcelain face. _Dragon_. Lucius smiled, knowing then that it was a perfect name for their child. It described him perfectly;

Strong.

Handsome.

Dangerous.

* * *

**A/N: **Wow... so there is the final chapter. I know there are a few things that are left incomplete, but the scope of the challenges was the pregnancy, so I tried to give you all a glimpse of what happened in that time and how the Malfoy's felt about it- after this letters the story continues to be cannon, so hopefully I managed to give you a bit of a back story on why the Malfoy's are the way they are. Now, I won't say that this is 100% absoloutley and positively the end, as I may add another chapter whenever the urge strikes, but for now- this is it.

Please feel free to leave reviews- I thrive off feedback.

And to those who have read, reviewed, favourited and alerted- thank you so much. You have all made writing about characters I normally avoid into something fun and wonderful- a great learning experience!


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